Consumers optimistic about the future of tech support experiences

New research from Support.com reveals that, while tech support is improving, customer expectations are high with intelligence-driven technologies expected within the next five years.

Support.com's 'The Future of Tech Support' survey, conducted in August this year among 2,000 consumers in the U.S. reveals that 57% believe tech support is better today than it was five years ago.

However, tech support can not afford to become complacent as 70% of those surveyed said they expect further improvements in the quality and convenience of tech support over the next five years.

The types of advanced support experiences consumers expect to see implemented in the future include concierge support (products that include dedicated customer support representatives that can assist via any channel), chatbots or voice-activated virtual assistants, pro-active support that notifies consumers in advance about potential issues, and self-healing products that fix issues automatically without any user interaction.

Support.com's survey asked consumers about their feeling towards emerging intelligence-driven support technologies such as chatbots and self-healing products. They found that nearly a quarter (22%) were aware when such automated customer service representatives are providing tech support, and are comfortable with the experience.

However, generational differences were evident. Millennials were the age group most likely to prefer and be more open to using automated, intelligent tech support than older consumers. Furthermore, 31% of millennials think chatbots provide better, more efficient tech support while only 13% of older consumers agree.

Commenting on the findings, Alex Poulos, VP of Marketing and Customer Success at Support.com said "consumers are optimistic about tech support experiences in the future. Technology brands that understand where customers will be in the future and start testing and deploying intelligent technology support solutions today can stay one step ahead of their customers - and their competition".